Think Progress

Frist In Farewell Address: ‘Let Us Not Allow’ Destructive Partisanship On This Floor

Today, with Vice President Cheney presiding over the Senate chamber, Bill Frist delivered his farewell address, urging his colleagues not to be influenced by “destructive partisanship.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/12/fristfarewell.320.240.flv]

An odd statement coming from Frist, who in his four years as Majority Leader allowed one polarizing issue after another to divide the Senate and the nation. ThinkProgress recounts some of Frist’s partisan ploys:

Frist Pushed Gay Marriage Ban. “Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday he plans a vote in early June on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, a move likely to fail but sure to spark a fiery election-year debate.”

Frist Pushed Flag Burning Amendment. “Amending the Constitution to prohibit flag burning may be considered political posturing in the nation’s capital, says Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, but it’s not pandering to the GOP’s conservative base to pursue such protection. ‘It’s important to the heart and soul of the American people,’ said Frist.”

Frist Lumped Minimum Wage Hike With Estate Tax Cut. “The only opportunity this year to increase the minimum wage and renew popular tax breaks will be linked to a reduction in the estate tax, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday. … ‘It’s now or never,’ Frist said.”

Frist Bucked Bush On Immigration, Proposed Enforcement-Only Bill. “Maneuvering toward a pre-election showdown on immigration, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Sunday said he would seek passage of legislation to secure the borders and predicted Democrats would resist. ‘Right now I got a feeling the Democrats may obstruct it,’ said Frist.”

Frist Offered False Medical Diagnosis From Senate Office. “Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon before becoming Senate majority leader, went to the floor late Thursday night for the second time in 12 hours to argue that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terri Schiavo is in a ‘persistent vegetative state.’ ‘I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office,’ he said.”

Frist Advocated Teaching Intelligent Design. “Echoing similar comments from President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said ‘intelligent design’ should be taught in public schools alongside evolution.”

Full transcript:

I think, as a consequence, we are moving toward a body that has too much of a two-year vision, governing for that next election, rather than a body with a 20-year vision, governing for the future. As we consider the future of the institution, I urge that we ask ourselves what it is that our forefathers envisioned. Is today’s reality what they foresaw?

I urge that we consider our work in this chamber. What is it really all about? Is it about keeping the majority? Is it about red states versus blue? Is it about lobbing attacks, in some way, across the aisle, back and forth? Is it about war rooms, whose purpose is not to contrast ideas but to destroy? Or is it more?

[...]

I think we need to remember this vision of the Senate: that the framers established the Senate to protect people from their rulers and as a check on the House and on the passions of the electorate. And let us not allow these passions of the electorate be reflected as destructive partisanship on this floor.



157 Responses to “Frist In Farewell Address: ‘Let Us Not Allow’ Destructive Partisanship On This Floor”

  1. chimpeach says:

    Yes, let’s not be threatening each other with the “Nuclear Option” and then falsely blaming the other side for inventing it.


  2. JaneESchneider says:

    Frist has been, and always will be, a senseless waste of human life.


  3. PatrioticLiberalChristian(PLC) says:

    Frist Offered False Medical Diagnosis From Senate Office.

    Frist should have been subjected to a medical board inquiry for this. For all his other unprofessional activities, perhaps he should have been subjected to a water board inquiry.


  4. SpudgeBoy says:

  5. Zooey says:

    And let us not allow these passions of the electorate be reflected as destructive partisanship on this floor.

    That is so frickin’ rich…


  6. Robert says:

    Pssst Frist – it probably doesn’t help you cause to have those two geriactic bozos (Inhofe and the Bridge to Nowhere Senator) behind you when you are giving such a “lofty” speech.


  7. JaneESchneider says:

    PLC, after Frist did his Schiavo ‘diagnosis’, Wayne (A. Schneider, not the other frequent poster Wayne) wrote to the Tennessee AMA to complain. They (the Tennessee AMA) actually sent us paperwork to fill out about the complaint!


  8. slappymagoo says:

    What’s the sadder concept:
    1: Frist knows he’s a GOP shill-and a shrill shill at that, fully self aware of how much HE’S contributed to the divisiveness in American politics, and he flat-out doesn’t care…

    OR

    2: He really does believe all his horses***, and that he really isn’t as partisan as he thinks he is.


  9. Tuber says:

    I put Frists statement through my ACME Decrapilizer 1000 and it produced the following result:

    “Let’s not allow the new Democratic majority to pull the same sh*t we did.”

    Goodbye Senator Frist. Look forward to meeting you in the private sector.


  10. Wayne says:

    Frist In Farewell Address: ‘Let Us Not Allow…Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’

    Do as I say, not as I do.

    I think that point is really clear.

    Frist, you are such a hypocrit.


  11. Spudd says:

    Don’t let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you; on your way out, Frist!


  12. Dick Cheney says:

    And to that, I can only add a heartfelt “F*ck You!”


  13. JaneESchneider says:

    In the immortal words of Groucho Marx, “Never darken my towel again!”


  14. chimpeach says:

    Shorter Frist: Sweet Jesus, I sure hope the Dems don’t stick it to us the way we stuck it to them! I’m just glad to be getting out of this hellhole of my own making.


  15. john o. says:

    Where is John Belushi loudly coughing Blow Job! into his fist when you need him?


  16. chimpeach says:

    #14 JaneESchneider

    In the immortal words of Groucho Marx, “Never darken my towel again!”

    Or to quote the illustrious Dan Hicks (and his Hot Licks): “How can I miss you when you won’t go away?”


  17. Curlew says:

    Is it possible to be any more arrogant than this asshole? Wait. I just answered my question. Chimpy McFlightsuit is. At least they are from the same political party. That explains alot.


  18. Jay Randal says:

    Frist is a heinous cat killer, and a massive creepo, so he just wants Democrats to play nice, since GOP never did so when in control of Congress! Bye bye Billy boy and everybody protect your cats!


  19. Ron says:

    Another Republican presidential hopeful dying in a quiet dull thud against the wall of reality. Good riddence, Mr. Frist. You’ve served us well, well, you served yourself anyway.


  20. ForTruth says:

    I just get angry and want to say, what a ph*cking moron!


  21. Lora says:

    To use a prhase I probably haven’t used since junior high,
    “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”


  22. Gregor Samsa says:

    Funny how Frist gets all philosophical only after his party lost the majority in Congress.

    Maybe he should have asked himself those questions when he was prostituting his integrity (or what was left of it) when diagnosing Terri Schiavo in order to pander to his base.

    Keep your sappy sanctimoniousness to yourself, Mr. Frist.


  23. Rosencrantz says:

    Not that surprising. I thas been clear for years that Republicans only consider partisanship to be what other people do. The same thing with “playing politics.” Only Democrats do these things. The Republicans only ever think about the good of the American people and how to turn America into a Utopian society where angels walk the streets.


  24. tony snow says:

    look, i lie for a living, but, frist just made me shit myself… this guy is something ’special’…


  25. south gonna do it again says:

    Here is one other reason I will NEVER vote for you yanks.Putting out swill like this.I suppose you all believe this crap too?Tha`s right jump on that bandwagon of misguided minstrels.You`re time is coming.

    Hence,my name.Good day.

    Let’s Ditch Dixie
    The case for Northern secession.
    By Mark Strauss
    Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2001, at 3:00 AM ET

    Call it the rebel yell heard ’round the world. Last year, under the watchful eyes of God and the rheumy stare of the last surviving, 93-year-old Confederate war widow, some 2,500 sons and daughters of Dixie gathered in Montgomery, Ala., to issue a Declaration of Southern Cultural Independence from a nation “violent and profane, coarse and rude, cynical and deviant.”

    The rally was staged by the League of the South, an organization that fondly remembers the Confederacy as a golden age (with the awkward exception of slavery) and that seeks to liberate the Southern people from the yoke of “a tyrannous central government” unrestrained by the Constitution. Most people dismiss League members as either harmless eccentrics or closet white supremacists (they’re probably a little of both), but their views resonate in circles well beyond the good ol’ boys who don Confederate Gray on weekends to re-enact the Battle of Antietam and pretend-kill some Yankees. You hear echoes of Southern nationalism whenever Mississippi invokes “states’ rights” to justify flying the Confederate flag over their capitols; or when the GOP’s honorary Dixie chick Gale Norton mourns the defeat of the South saying that “we lost too much”; or when John Ashcroft praises Southern Partisan magazine for helping “set the record straight” on the War Between the States.

    This re-emergence of Confederate pride is merely the symptom of a much deeper problem: The North and South can no longer claim to be one nation. If you want proof, just look at the electoral map from the last presidential election. Or consider that, although Texas Gov. George W. Bush lost the U.S. popular vote by 500,000, he won the old Confederacy by a resounding 3.1 million votes. Meanwhile, the cultural gap that pits NASCAR fans against PBS viewers continues to widen. Ted Turner all but confirmed the balkanization of America when he established a cable network exclusively for the citizens of Dixie, serving up finger-lickin’ TV fare that includes Andy Griffith reruns, the best of World Championship Wrestling, CNN South, and slapstick movies such as Dumb and Dumber (which, according to the president of “Turner South,” gets unusually high ratings regionally).

    The United States doesn’t have to refight the Civil War to set matters right. Rather, North and South should simply follow the example of the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Shake hands, says it’s been real, and go their separate ways. And if the South isn’t inclined to leave anytime soon, then we should show them the door by seceding unilaterally. Because for all the hue and cry of the South being a conquered people, it is the North that increasingly finds itself under the dominion of the Confederacy. The White House has been occupied by a Southerner for 17 of the last 37 years. And the Confederacy’s foot-in-the-door of the Oval Office will become even more pronounced in the next century: The latest census allowed Dixie to pick up six additional Electoral College votes (thanks, in part, to the migration of warmth-seeking Northerners in numbers sufficient to swell the population of the South, yet insufficient to shift its political landscape). Had Al Gore won the same states in 1972 as he did in 2000, he would have trumped Bush with an electoral vote margin of 278 to 260. In 1984, he still would have won by 271 to 267. But in 2000, even with Electoral College juggernauts such as New York, Pennsylvania, and California in his corner, Gore couldn’t win the White House without the support of the old Confederacy.

    As the electoral center of gravity has shifted in the United States, so too have the orientations of the two major political parties. The Democrats lost their historic claim to the “Solid South” when the party fractured over the New Deal and the civil rights movement. With Dixie up for grabs, the GOP went carpetbagging for electoral votes—Barry Goldwater paved the way when he won the loyalty of Southern delegates at the 1964 Republican convention through his championship of states’ rights and his opposition to the civil rights bill. Every victorious Republican candidate since then has dished out exactly what Southern voters want to hear: Nixon attacked busing and racial quotas; Reagan embraced the Christian Right while his attorney general, Ed Meese, charged that the 1965 Voting Rights Act discriminated against the South; and Massachusetts-born George Bush Sr. surrounded himself with country and western stars and added a Willie Horton plank to his platform. Since Republicans won the House in 1994, Southerners have dominated the congressional leadership. Today, Republicans maintain their bare voting majority in the evenly split Senate by virtue of the fact that there are four more Republicans from Dixie than Democrats.

    The Dixification of the “Party of Lincoln” would be tolerable if the North had a political party of its own. But increasingly it doesn’t; hence the rise of Ralph Nader, who expressed the pent-up frustration among liberals and populists who no longer feel comfortable in a Democratic Party that speaks with a down-home drawl. In all the presidential elections between 1980 and 1992, the Democrats succeeded in winning only one Confederate state. Clinton’s path to victory was the trashing of Sister Soulja as he and other Southern Democrats weaned their party away from Northern special interests (aka “the party base”) such as environmentalists, organized labor, African-Americans, consumer advocates, Latinos, and gays. Gore lost the election (and even his home state, which he loyally represented for 16 years) because he went off message and dared to espouse progressive, populist themes on government, gun control, and the environment. Shut out of all branches of government, some party leaders are once again pushing a Southern strategy to retake the White House and Congress, all but guaranteeing that the Democratic Party will continue whistling Dixie.

    Economically and socially, secession will be painless for the North. The South is a gangrenous limb that should have been lopped off decades ago. More people live below the poverty line in the old Confederacy than in the Northeast and Midwest combined. You are three times more likely to be murdered in parts of Dixie than anywhere in New England, despite a feverish devotion to “law-and-order” that has made eight Southern states home to 90 percent of all recent U.S. executions. The South has the highest infant-mortality rate and the highest incidences of sexually transmitted diseases, while it lags behind the rest of the country in terms of test scores and opportunities for women. The Confederate states rail against the tyranny of big government, yet they are the largest recipients of federal tax dollars. They steal business away from the North the same way that developing countries worldwide have always attracted foreign direct investment: through low wages and anti-union laws. The flow of guns into America’s Northern cities stems largely from Southern states. The tobacco grown by ol’ Dixie kills nearly a half-million Americans each year.

    Imagine then, for just a moment, the North as its own nation. Trent Lott and Dick Armey would be foreigners. We would no longer be subjected to round-the-clock TV commercials for Dale Earnhardt commemorative plates. If you were to expel all Southerners from Congress (both parties, mind you) the new liberal majority would be able to pass tougher gun laws and legislation barring discrimination against gays and lesbians immediately. With the South banished from the Union, we could begin to correct the most objectionable aspects of Southern behavior with the same tools we use to engage countries such as China: by making trade and continued foreign aid contingent upon sincere efforts to clean up the environment and improve human rights. We could implement “Plan South Carolina” to convince tobacco growers to develop alternative crops. Northern observers could ensure democracy in Florida polling places. Peace Corps volunteers could teach the necessary skills that would allow Southerners to pull themselves out of poverty and illiteracy while simultaneously promoting a better understanding of American values.

    In fact, the only obvious downside is that the South would almost certainly insist on keeping the 3,150 nuclear warheads that are scattered throughout Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Virginia. Maybe we could strike a deal to get those nukes back, the same way Russia did with Ukraine after the Soviet Union broke up. If not, then perhaps national missile defense might not be such a bad idea after all.


  26. Zooey says:

    “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
    Comment by Lora

    Such strong language!


  27. JaneESchneider says:

    #22, Lora, you have to do it like Elmer Fudd, “Good widdance to bad wubbish”! :-)

    #17, Chimpeach, that works for me, too. Not that we’d ever miss Frist.

    Jay, Frist is a cat-killer?! That bastard had better stay out of my neck of the woods. He’ll burn in hell for that alone.


  28. WaltTheMan says:

    There are more contradictions in these two sentences then will ever resurrected from all of Saddam’s writings and speeches:

    “I think we need to remember this vision of the Senate: that the framers established the Senate to protect people from their rulers and as a check on the House and on the passions of the electorate. And let us not allow these passions of the electorate be reflected as destructive partisanship on this floor.”

    This guy actually attended college? High School??? My HS Civics teacher would give him an F.


  29. Blackacre says:

    I guess Frist didn’t think the GOP would lose the Congress this election, so his “its now or never” comment regarding the minimum wage is funny today. I guess “never” means 2007.


  30. chimpeach says:

    #26 south gonna do it again

    I’m sorry. Refresh my memory. What did the South do the first time?

    (No offense, Southern folk.)


  31. Dennis says:

    Surely I am not the only reader to have filed a complaint with the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners about Dr. Frist’s video examination and diagnosis, which he then later lied about.

    Good riddance, Bill Frist.


  32. Dick Cheney says:

    He’s going to use his extensive knowledge of felines to market a new, republican catnip: Little Fristies, in Cajun-Fundy, and Rotisserie Chichenhawk flavors.


  33. Dick Cheney says:

    south gonna do it again

    Lose?


  34. Jay Randal says:

    Yes Jane > Frist is a cat killer! He admitted stealing cats from neighborhoods when he was a medical student in college. He would kill them and then dissect them. Frist is sick like Bush who blew up frogs by putting firecrackers in their asses as a child. Those who kill animals become crazy, so keep a watch on your cats if Frist is in your area!


  35. KRank says:

    “Now that the other party has the majority, let them not be partisan.”


  36. JaneESchneider says:

    Well, Jay, in the unlikely event that Frist ever “darkens my towel”, I’m locking up my cats. Killing innocent animals is just a stepping stone to killing innocent humans. What part of “First, do no harm…” does Frist not get?

    I’m going home to feed and hug my cats. Oh, and Wayne, too. ;-)


  37. barfly says:

    Hey, South; if the Rebs ever launched missiles against the North, the resulting radiation would be carried back downstream — to the South. The North could poison the rivers, and watch it be carried down to old Dixie. Perhaps you’d better fantasize about another plan.


  38. RUCerious says:

    Nothing about remotely diagnosing cat diseases? How surprising.
    That’s about all he is competent to do…


  39. RUCerious says:

    Is Mark above related to Leo by any chance?
    WTF-Incredulometer going off, deafening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


  40. osage says:

    Asking that Democrats “not” to do unto Republicans as Republicans did unto them is the same old GOP hypocrisy mixed with self-righteous denial. I hope the Democrats “nicely” stick it up the GOP’s most appropriate orifice.


  41. JaneESchneider says:

    ‘South’ seems to be posting this crap on other threads here. Apparently he thinks all progressives are ‘Yanks’. Big post, little mind.

    Goodnight!


  42. El+Tonno says:

    “Attention God! Eminently Zappable hypocrite now on the podium!”

    (..nothing happens..the frist drones on…)

    After YHWH, God must have LEFT THE BUILDING!

    >> Frist is a cat-killer?!

    Puns about “Frist the cat” come to mind.


  43. Briseadh na Faire says:

    Why bipartisanship now? For 12 years we’ve watched Republican partisanship ramrod through an impeachment, then rubber-stamp their president into a dictatorship. Whenever it looked like they wouldn’t get their way, they threatened to pull a ‘nuclear option’ and permanently alter the time-honored tradition of allowing a minority to filibuster a presidential appointee.

    While Republicans have been in power, it has been all about staying in power and nothing about what is good for the people of this country (at least, those whose incomes are below the multi-million dollar mark).

    Will Republicans agree to go along with legislation which has majority (Democrat) support, or will they become obstructionist? Will they vote for, or against, investigations into the conduct of the President and members of his Administration? Will they seek the truth, or cry “political witch-hunt” or “fishing expedition” at every turn of events?

    Bush’s idea of bipartisanship was to renominate Bolton. Will the Republicans in Congress strike the same tone?

    Time will tell.


  44. upside00 says:

    Billy Boy is going back to his mini-White House in Nashville, count his millions, worry some about the ongoing SEC investigation and practice medicine by video tape.

    Sounds like good life, don’t ya think?


  45. AshenShard says:

    Are Republicans like Frist just stupid or extremely arrogant? Did they not realize they might lose power one day and their partisan politicing would come back to bite them, or did they actually think they were the beginning of a one thousand year dynasty?


  46. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    The cat killer spoketh, the cat killer leaveth. Thank god, thank all the gods that this cat killer is leaving Capitol Hill. The nation will be a better place without him. I feel sorry for the cats because Frist will be back on the streets.


  47. Wayne says:

    #26 — south

    you posting the crap from Mark Strauss and his Klan, Aryan Nation speech?

    Shoo bigot.


  48. liberal_Mike says:

    It’s jerks like this that tell me I can not marry my dog –we are both consenting, over 18 (in dog years), and in L*O*V*E,


  49. Laszlo Panaflex says:

    From threatening to employ the “nuclear option” to chiding the other side to play nice. Pitiful.


  50. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    Hey South…

    maybe you should cut back on the meth or cocaine.


  51. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    Liberal mike – marrying your dog would be a Santorum.


  52. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    Ash – The Republicans really did believe that they were starting a dynasty. Traitor Rove promised them that they would be the start of something new (and dangerous).


  53. Heynow says:

  54. Lee says:

    off topic, but this IS the best Christmas light show – it went around last year – all must see

    Lee


  55. AshenShard says:

    #54 Coffins

    Well, i try to give them the benefit of the doubt … though i doubt they were trying to start anything new … the only way it would have been new is that it would have been new to our country.

    Oh, if you don’t mind, use Ashen rather than Ash … I’m not a pokemon character :-p


  56. USA says:

    Listen how he says floor at the end, play it a couple times, you can just hear how he’s just some ancient demon from 1800’s or 1700’s…

    He has too many questions about his job to be employed. “What are we doing here?”

    Trying to get bigots like you to leave Billy Boy Weakling.

    BTW yes the majority does rule dummy.


  57. liberal_Mike says:

    We even submitted blood tests –and other than a shared risk of ringworm…



  58. liberal_Mike says:

    We went to the park together recently –and people starred when we sniffed each other’s asses (just a way of expressing our closeness). Republican, Bigot –Racists!


  59. ForTruth says:

    You cannot tell a fundie anything, don’t even waste your energy.


  60. liberal_Mike says:

    What do you mean ForTruth? I’m not a Christian. I’m a progressive for truth.


  61. George W. Idiot says:

    Do as I say, not as I do.


  62. liberal_Mike says:

    Right on G.W.I!!! –smell as I smell, not as humans do.


  63. ForTruth says:

    Comment by liberal_Mike

    Not directed at you sir, just sort of my general advice. What’s your thought on it?


  64. liberal_Mike says:

    Fundies can go to their own hell. Except islamic fundamentalists. Because they’re oppressed.


  65. Lora says:

    Yes Jane > Frist is a cat killer! He admitted stealing cats from neighborhoods when he was a medical student in college. He would kill them and then dissect them. Frist is sick like Bush who blew up frogs by putting firecrackers in their asses as a child. Those who kill animals become crazy, so keep a watch on your cats if Frist is in your area!

    Comment by Jay Randal

    Jay and Jane,
    I’m not sure if Frist actually stole neighborhood cats, but he did admit to going to animal shelters lying that he was going to adopt them and then actually killed them for experiments. In any case, as I’m sure you know, many famous serial killers have started out by practicing on small animals. By their relentless support of continued warfare in Iraq, maybe they’ve already taken the second step.


  66. ForTruth says:

    Fundies can go to their own hell. Except islamic fundamentalists. Because they’re oppressed.

    Comment by liberal_Mike

    Mike I think your looking for a reaction. Otherwise, you represent the radical left. You are dangerous.


  67. liberal_Mike says:

    My Fiancé doesn’t care for cats either –but I have convinced her to hold talks and work it out with her “enemies”.


  68. Wayne says:

    Mike I think your looking for a reaction. Otherwise, you represent the radical left. You are dangerous.

    Comment by ForTruth

    liberal_Mike is acting alot like Santo, ForTruth.

    Santo, you off the meds again?


  69. Jay Randal says:

    Lora > Frist did adopt cats from animal shelters to kill, and experiment on, but he also said he hunted for stray cats in neighborhoods too! The weird thing is that he was studying to be a doctor, not a animal vet, so his killing cats was/is some kind of mental problem! Deranged killers usually start out on animals, so Frist and Bush are dangerous crazy men!


  70. Zooey says:

    Wayne,

    Santo is WAAAAY more rational than that. :}


  71. liberal_Mike says:

    Now that is an interesting question Wayne. Is it better to be on or off your meds? No, I’m not “Santo”, I’m liberal Mike. Bush lied, people died.


  72. HarryLauder says:

    He needs a good Fristing if you ask me….


  73. Wayne says:

    Santo is WAAAAY more rational than that. :}
    — Zooey

    Now that is funny. Santo and rational in the same sentence =-D


  74. dlet says:

    ‘Let Us Not Allow…Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’

    Because we have all witnessed what that can do. An out of control president, out of control budget, no oversight, brain dead women being used on the Senate floor, one political side being forced to hold meetings in the basement, etc.


  75. ForTruth says:

    Comment by phil in L.I.

    Care to explain what it is you are talking about?


  76. veritas says:

    Once these thugs are gone, all of the destructive partisanship will go along with them; after all, they’re precisely the ones who destroyed the Congress and tried to take this country down the tubes. They’re the incompetents and criminals – breaking every law in the book. They’re precisely the ones who put their stamp on a “do nothing” congress; they’re gone and good riddance to bad rubbish!


  77. veritas says:

    Bill Frist is a charlatan and a quack. He didn’t even realize that, in order to maintain his medical license, he had to take continuing education. EVERYONE in the country knows that! What a total buffoon! When I look at him now saying good-bye, I’m left with one parting thought: “Bill, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!”.


  78. Zooey says:

    Care to explain what it is you are talking about?
    Comment by ForTruth

    I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t even know.


  79. VerbalKint says:

    So long, a**hole. Hope to see you wearing prison stripes soon.


  80. JPark says:

    #26 The problem is the south is full of pussies. Poor, resourceless pussies.


  81. Lora says:

    Lora > Frist did adopt cats from animal shelters to kill, and experiment on, but he also said he hunted for stray cats in neighborhoods too!
    Comment by Jay Randal

    Jay,
    I didn’t know about the neighborhood cats part. Lying to animal shelters about the cats he was “adopting” to kill is bad enough. If he actually stole neighborhood cats, then the guy is really psycho! (Not that that particularly surprises me.) I’m glad my own cats are far away from him.


  82. liberal_Mike says:

    JPark – I’d like to meet you.



  83. trueblue says:

    Mike,
    Cut it out.
    It was amusing with the “marrying your dog” bit, but now it’s getting old.

    I thought it was a joke, but going after posters means it’s not.
    Please stop.


  84. JPark says:

    #88 Of course you would Mike. Your mouth is already watering. I think you might be a little gay.


  85. JPark says:

    Trueblue, it is a joke all right. A right wing joke. The kind that nobody finds funny.


  86. liberal_Mike says:

    What’s wrong with marrying your dog?


  87. JPark says:

    Mike, what is wrong with snuggling up with a miscarriage?


  88. liberal_Mike says:

    No, answer my ? a**h0les.

    What is wrong with an engagement to an animal? Try not to be a retard. I’m really interested in your stupid response…


  89. JPark says:

    #96 Everything. Now answer my question Gump…What is wrong with snuggling up with a freaking miscarriage. I am VERY interested in your pathetic response.


  90. trueblue says:

    JPark,

    Wow.
    We’re dealing with a true George Bush type psychopath tonight, aren’t we?
    Yikes.


  91. JPark says:

    How could you tell? :)


  92. Zooey says:

    I always seem to find JPark in the most interesting (?) conversations.


  93. liberal_Mike says:

    Zooey – that is because you are 85 and delusional.


  94. trueblue says:

    Wow. In 20 years, Al Gore couldn’t have possibly expanded his mind?

    Kinda like Barry Goldwater, who changed his mind on gays. He learned as he grew older.
    Al Gore can’t be afforded the same right?

    Please, Angie, come back with something better.


  95. JPark says:

    Mikey boy, as opposed to 12 and not very bright? If you want to troll TP you had better get a better schtick.


  96. Zooey says:

    Thank you for that diagnosis, Mike.


  97. trueblue says:

    Wow!
    Zooey,
    You did what you did at about age 61!
    Bravo!

    ;)

    (What a ‘mar-oon’ we have tonight!)


  98. Eargy Earp says:

    New trolls, but same old BS.

    I still think that Frist’s future is playing on Broadway with Risk Santorum in “Huck Finn” as the duke and the dauphin.

    Best flimflammers I’ve seen in decades.


  99. Zooey says:

    What did I do at age 61, true?


  100. trueblue says:

    tell ya in an email, since you aren’t even near that age now….

    just going back 25 years or so…..
    ;)


  101. katy says:

    McCain Hires Man Behing Racist Harold Ford Ad
    What a dickhead!
    Comment by trueblue — December 7, 2006 @ 10:13 pm

    trueblue, all, did you see this?:

    St. McCain hires crooked campaign manager
    By: John Amato @ 12:15 PM – PST
    MyDD:

    John McCain just hired the worst man in the world to run his campaign, Terry Nelson. Nelson was an unindicted co-conspirator in the TRMPAC scandal as a key point of contact between Tom Delay and the RNC. He was James Tobin’s boss during the 2002 New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal, for which Tobin was convicted. He also worked at the head of opposition research for the NRCC this cycle, where robocalls from Republicans pretending to be Democrats were the norm all over the country. Nelson also produced the racist bimbo ad against Harold Ford…read on
    http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/07/st-mccain-hires-crooked-campaign-manager/

    .


  102. liberal_Mike says:

    I don’t really have anything to prove…


  103. JPark says:

    #112 No I suppose you don’t. Everybody knows you are an idiot. You have PROVEN that. I don’t really know why you are hanging around.


  104. trueblue says:

    I don’t really have anything to prove…

    Comment by liberal_Mike — December 7, 2006 @ 10:53 pm

    You also don’t have anything of worth to say.


  105. ForTruth says:

    Goodnight Dr. Frist.


  106. Zooey says:

    just going back 25 years or so…..
    ;)
    Comment by trueblue

    Ah, yes. Well I plan to continue that particular activity until I am 85 and delusional.


  107. JPark says:

    #116 I hear being delusional just adds to the experience :)


  108. Zooey says:

    Oh! Dr Frist!

    I did not hijack this thread, I swear on liberal Mike’s grave.


  109. trueblue says:

    Good for you!

    (I just don’t want to know…)
    ;)))

    Gotta go, the Sandman is beating me over the head…
    (I’m tired, for Mike to understand.)

    Carry on!

    -TB


  110. trueblue says:

    I did not hijack this thread, I swear on liberal Mike’s grave.

    Comment by Zooey

    Wouldn’t we all like to……..


  111. Zooey says:

    I hear being delusional just adds to the experience :)
    Comment by JPark

    Assuming we’re talking about the same thing, JPark, I like a little focus. :)


  112. Eargy Earp says:

    Blue,

    McCain could hire Jesus Christ to manage his campaign and would never win the Presidency.

    McCain is not likable, personable, or smart enough to be elected President. It really doesn’t matter who he sells his soul to, or whose ass he kisses. It ain’t gonna happen, I tell ya.

    He comes up with a good idea once in a while, but that’s about it. Does he seem to be able to reason through different options on the Iraq war? no. Does he seem like a good person to spend some time with? no.

    He’s as poison to the Republican Party as Hillary or Leibermann are to the Democratic party. WAY TOO uninteresting.

    So don’t worry.


  113. JPark says:

    #121 LOL, ahh, I suppose so. It would be nice to be in control of your faculties. Still, I hear…


  114. tim taylor says:

    I will take McCain over this shyster any day of the week.

    http://www.lcrga.com/archive/200010251159.shtml

    And I`m a liberal.

    Imagine that.


  115. Joefriday says:

    I don’t really have anything to prove…

    Comment by liberal_Mike — December 7, 2006 @ 10:53 pm

    Keep telling yourself that Mickey-it won’t work but, try anyway. Your a loser and you know it. Let me guess-you can’t get laid with$100 in your pocket at a whore house. Your perfect for a rethug salad tossing moron. Mickey boy-come back with some real good Bill Clinton stuff- that will make you puff out your chest. Maybe it was cold somewhere today so there is no Global warming and there was no landing on the moon it was in a Bolloywood movie set.


  116. JPark says:

    angie, try linking to something that doesn’t lower your IQ.


  117. JPark says:

    Ok, tim/angie. Nice try.


  118. Joefriday says:

    And I`m a liberal.

    Imagine that.

    Comment by tim taylor — December 7, 2006 @ 11:18 pm

    Yea tim and Mary Cheney is going to have Al Gores baby. Imagine that.


  119. Joefriday says:

    Turn out the lights the party is over!


  120. Innocent Bystander says:

    First is the King of Deadpan….soon to be King Of Bedpan. Too bad we never got to nail him for ethic’s violations on his “blind trust”.


  121. bogglesthemind says:

    Mr Frist, please, stop breathing our air.


  122. Jay Randal says:

    Sen. Bill Frist telling the story of his medical school days:

    “I visited the various animal shelters in the Boston suburbs, collecting cats, taking them home, treating them as pets for a few days, then carting them off to the lab to die in the interest of science.”

    A mentally sick weirdo was allowed to become the Majority Leader of the Senate, and now thank God he has retired, but he should be in a mental institution for the criminally insane! He adopted cats under false pretenses, then fooled the cat into thinking it was a pet for a few days, then killed it and dissected it? Frist is a Jeffry Dahmer type creepo!


  123. Guitar_Playing_Bastard says:

    MURDER ALL REPUBLICANS!


  124. Yellowbird says:

    If Frist believed what he is saying he should resign immediately.
    He should also ask all of his unAmerican obstructionist divisionist anti constitutional colleagues to resign likewise. His pResident too…. and his veep.


  125. Mongo says:

    Fcku you, you evil bastard.


  126. Chip says:

    Shut the “F” up you religious nutbag!


  127. chimpeach says:

    Oh no, don’t tell me. Angie and Tim Taylor are two more gay-hating gay Republicans?

    It’s always the ones who proclaim their hatred for gays the loudest and the longest.


  128. Marge says:

    I can not believe this guy. How does he have the gall to bring up bi-partisanship. Some how his organization got my email and I started getting his weekly or whatever email letter. At first I started to stop it, then I decided to keep my name in that way I could tell what the devil he was up to. You would not believe the lies he sent about the democrats. Now I get this last one he says where he accuses the democrats governing for two years so they can win the election in 2008, when the republicans governed with a view to the next 20 years for the good of America…I ALMOST THREW UP.


  129. Lora says:

    angie,
    Get back on your meds. Your post #141 makes no sense. (But then what can I expect from a person with no sense?)


  130. jons+56 says:

    Bipartisanship? Sure. Listening to shrub’s dad is reasonable.


  131. red state loyalist- angie says:

    Lora,

    I nice juicy “georgia cheer” for you!!

    Oh my,I think that one was in there since turkey day.

    Bwahahahaaaaaaaa!

    let`s see where was I……………..

    $7,269,686…………..

    and 21 cents.

    Back to work govt. mules……..you`re making my life so easy!!!

    Did I mention I have RETIRED STINKING RICH at the ripe old age of

    38?

    Never again will work adorn my thoughts.

    Bush is a Godsend for REAL Americans.

    I just wish there weren`t term limits.

    This is like a GREAT BIG MONEY MACHINE!!!!

    We`ll be back in about 10-15 years to get the rest!!!

    angie-the proud corporate raider!!!

    Bwahahahahaaaaaaaa!!!!

    Have a nice christian CHRISTMAS!!

    That is if you don`t have to work Christmas day and all.

    muwahhhhhh!!!


  132. mdhatter says:

    ‘Let Us Not Allow…Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’

    I guess he really IS in touch with the voters.


  133. mdhatter says:

    is someone off their medications? or is that liquor?


  134. brush with angie says:

    Why Americans Hate Democrats — A Dialog

    Just because it is such a damned good piece of writing, the following is an exerpt from Jane Smiley’s seminal piece in Slate Magazine:

    The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them because lots of Americans, even those who don’t share those same qualities, don’t know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?

    Progressives have only one course of action now: React quickly to every outrage—red state types love to cheat and intimidate, so we have to assume the worst and call them on it every time. We have to give them more to think about than they can handle—to always appeal to reason and common sense, and the law, even when they can’t understand it and don’t respond. They cannot be allowed to keep any secrets. Tens of millions of people didn’t vote—they are watching, too, and have to be shown that we are ready and willing to fight, and that the battle is worth fighting. And in addition, we have to remember that threats to democracy from the right always collapse. Whatever their short-term appeal, they are borne of hubris and hatred, and will destroy their purveyors in the end.

    Although it originally appeared shortly after the last election, I think the article is so fundamentally honest and insightful that it bears dissemination until every American has read it. You can read the whole thing here.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2109218/


  135. Exley says:

    Thank you for your service to our nation, Sen. Frist. You are a good and decent man and we all appreciate your sacrifice in serving your nation. We applaud your return to the practice of medicine, where you will help save even more lives. On behalf of those of us who post at ThinkProgress, I thank you for your good works.


  136. Gregor Samsa says:

    You are a good and decent man and we all appreciate your sacrifice in serving your nation.
    Comment by Exley — December 8, 2006 @ 1:46 am

    Good and decent people don’t use wedge issues as election ploys to gain votes. And what did Frist sacrifice, exactly?

    We applaud your return to the practice of medicine, where you will help save even more lives.

    Hopefully he will have the presence of mind to make diagnosis after doing much more than watching a video of his patients.

    On behalf of those of us who post at ThinkProgress, I thank you for your good works.

    Speak for yourself. Please restrain from thanking greedy amoral asses like Frist on my behalf.


  137. limey eagles says:

    I would vote for George W. Bush for a thrid and fourth and fifth term.

    I would also like to head up the fight for the elimination of term limits.

    signed,

    Gregor Samsa


  138. Paul in LA says:

    How soon they forget.

    Compare Frist to Tom DeLay:

    Frist: ‘Let Us Not Allow…Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’

    DeLay: “…I found that it is customary in speeches such as these to reminisce about the good old days of political harmony, and across-the-aisle camaraderie, and to lament the bitter divisive partisan rancor that supposedly now weakens our democracy.

    …Lincoln’s left hand still stays clenched because tyranny will always need an enemy. And we are still here, Mr. Speaker, as a House and as a Nation because the torch of freedom cannot carry itself.”

    http://www.vote-smart.org/speech_detail.php?speech_id=180631&keyword=&phrase=&contain=

    Tyranny will always need an enemy, DeLay says. Lincoln, Lincoln fought the tyranny that the GOP is all about; just look at the mutt in DeLay’s seat: Lott.

    Lincoln loudly opposed the tyranny of the United States in Mexico. In regard to partisanship, Lincoln’s compassion and freedom from partisanship are the antithesis of DeLay’s thuggery and the GOP hypocrisy for profit that DARES to relate itself to Lincoln.

    Biden thinks Delaware should have fought with the slavers. Lott thinks Strom Thurman was fit to lead the country. DeLay thinks robbing the Treasury is his God-given responsibility. Hillary Clinton thinks that anything Israel chooses to do with our munitions is fine.

    Abraham Lincoln was so far from these aberrant views that it isn’t even the same country of the mind. They want to dress themselves in his laurels. That railsplitter knew more about work than Tom DeLay or Hillary Clinton ever will. And he suffered a lot more than they — a moral pain they don’t seem to know exists.


  139. Paul in LA says:

    (DeLay was House majority leader, Lott is Senate minority whip, oops).


  140. ann says:

    Two words: Terri Schiavo. Frist has zero credibility.

    You are a good and decent man and we all appreciate your sacrifice in serving your nation.

    Sacrifice? You mean the millions he made on stock deals because of his insider knowledge of legislation? You mean the cadillac health care benefits that he receives for life because he was in congress? I believe he’s been thanked enough.


  141. Peter Gaffney says:

    I’ve never understood how people as unappealing as Bill Frist, Ted Haggard and George W. Bush can reach high position. I mean, Haggard (like Jim Bakker) is a guy whom I would instinctively be reluctant to leave children (of either sex) alone with, and honestly my initial reaction to Bush was that it was too bad that his smile and manner — probably unconsciously and involuntarily — made everything he say sound smug and supercilious and that as a result most voters would be turned off regardless of what he actually had to say. And Frist (admittedly the most palatable of the three, but not by a whole lot) would be perfectly cast as a small town banker and Rotarian caught embezzling and/or poisoning his wife.

    It’s odd that the idea of seceding from the South, which was so appealing (well, as a fantasy, at least) in the wake of the ‘04 election, now seems completely outdated. Although the South remains more red than the rest of America (bearing in mind, of course, that up to 49% of a “red” state’s voters — much more, in Florida and Ohio — may have voted Democratic), it’ clear that disgust with Bush and corrupt Republicans in Congress is national, and that a Democratic candidate would — at this moment, at least — stand a chance almost anywhere, and with almost any type of voter.


  142. Nona Yabiz says:

    McCain will never be president because his horseplay as a pilot on the USS Forrestal resulted in the jettisoning of an external fuel tank on his aricraft which started a fire that killed 132 crewmen and almost sank the carrier. McCain’s role in this tragedy was covered up by his Navy Admiral father.


  143. Karim says:

    Bye-bye Billy Boy. I hope the SEC nails your fraudulent, money-grubbing ass to the wall.


  144. Justin says:

    HHHMMMMM….What happened to Frist’s bid to run for the presidency in 2008??

    Not enough Terri Schiavos out there or was one enough??


  145. StealthBadger says:

    #96: Nothing, I think inter-species engagement is a wonderful warning sign – it’s an indication that whoever it is needs to be kept far away from.

    *pats the trolls onna head and gives ‘em cookies* Ain’t they cute? ^.^

    I very much wish the “nuclear option” had been gone into with a bit more detail in the OP, I’ll just be very happy and satisfied that Frist, Santorum, and George “make my day” Felix “macaca” Allen are gone.

    o.0

    Which reminds me, we need to get the lobbyists to come wipe up any Santorum drippings before the beginning of the 110th Congress – after all, they were the ones that got the most enjoyment out of the K-Y Street project, no?

    *really can’t believe he’s about to hit ‘Post’*

    *wanders off for coffee anna cigarette*


  146. powkat says:

    Re: South gonna do it again:

    The massive (over)use of fossil fuels (read air-conditioning) has contributed to the rise of the South over the past 50 years. Once management could exploit the southern low-wage workers in comfort, the region boomed.

    So rather than kicking the whole region out, simply kill two birds with one stone: government investment in alternative fuels, increase the minimum wage, repeal Taft-Hartly – all good things. Those people in the South who are not pining for the 19th century will want go along and can probably force the issue. The alternative is to stay with the current troglodyte politicans and go back to being a third world country.


  147. John says:

    I’m just glad he’s gone. No more gay marriage bans for the US Constitution, and no more tax cuts for millionaires if we want the minimum wage to go up (let’s face it, the rich will still be rich after they pay their taxes, and marriage is defined as a union of two people. The Right just see it the WRONG way).


  148. Winthrop says:

    “What part of ‘First, do no harm…’ does Frist not get?”

    It doesn’t say “Frist, do no harm, so it doesn’t apply to him. Besides, he’s a Republican, and IOKIYAR. And if that weren’t enough, he’s a zillionaire.

    The rules? Those are for the other guy.


  149. Willy says:

    This should help clear up the apparent contradiction: For Republicans non-partianship means following their viewpoint blindly.


  150. Nate Sammons says:

    Frist should not be a Senator, and should not be able to return to medical practice. Anyone who says you can get AIDS from tears or sweat and who diagnoses people over video tape (Terry Schiavo) should not be able to hold a license to practice medicine.


  151. Prime News Blog » Blog Archive » Frist Farewell: ‘Let Us Not Allow…Destructive Partisanship On This Floor’ says:

    [...] Today, with Vice President Cheney presiding over the Senate chamber, Bill Frist delivered his farewell address, urging his colleagues not to be influenced by “destructive partisanship.”read more | digg story [...]


  152. Joeslogic says:

    Frist Pushed Gay Marriage Ban.

    Frist Pushed Flag Burning Amendment.

    Frist Lumped Minimum Wage Hike With Estate Tax Cut.

    Looks like Frist is in tune with the majority of Americans not like the party that has to change the subject and avoid showing their true colors in order to get elected then try to use the courst as a means to override the will of the people.


  153. BroD says:

    “Please, please, Mr. Reid, don’t let them investigate.”


  154. gg says:

    Dispite the hipocracy in that statement coming from you, thank you for that glimmer of truth. Let us look to the future and let go of fear, remember what the legislative branch was meant for.


  155. BroD. says:

    That’s ok, Ga, I’m keeping close tabs on them, too. They can’t make a move without my knowing about it.



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